Mad Men Season 5: Where to Watch, Download or Stream

After a too-long hiatus, Mad Men season 5 premieres on AMC on Sunday, March 25th at 9 PM / 8 PM Central. The crew from Sterling, Cooper, Draper and Pryce will also be available via download and streaming on iTunes and Amazon Instant Video the next day for the cord-cutters out there (or folks who don’t get AMC). While the AMC website doesn’t mention it, you can catch up on seasons one through four on Netflix streaming (no word yet on when season 5 is coming to Netflix). I guess they like to keep secrets just like Don Draper or whatever his name is. The show has been gone so long, I almost forgot about it!

Update (9/24/2012): Season 5 will be rebroadcast on AMC starting this Sunday, September 30 at 7AM Eastern / 6 AM Central with the premiere episode, “A Little Kiss”. Subsequent back to back episodes will air the following weeks at 6 AM EST / 5 AM Central. So, it’s probably best you set your TiVo.

7 Responses to Mad Men Season 5: Where to Watch, Download or Stream

A very interesting question. It turns out that both Amazon Instant and iTunes stream Mad Men in stereo. The notable exception being Amazon downloads to the TiVo which are in 5.1. It looks like most TV shows on iTunes are not in surround sound. Also, the previous seasons of Mad Men on Netflix are in surround sound. You’ll have to wait a while before season 5 is available on Netflix.

As for price, per episode it’s the same price. However, if you buy the whole season, Amazon is typically less (in this case $5).

Thank you for the 5.1 tip. This will be the first time I use my TiVo Premiere to watch Amzon Instant Video On Demand or whatever they are calling it. On a similar note will season 2 of the Killing also be available this way?

I don’t know about the Killing. However, if you experience significant pixelization with Amazon Instant on TiVo make sure you complain. Amazon is very good about giving out refunds if there’s isn’t a quality encode.

Wow…iTunes is stereo only? Well, won’t be buying it then. What a joke. I watched it on AMC, but the incredible amount of ‘expanding’ going on by my cable provider made it a horrendous experience. The typewriters and phones ringing in the background drowned out most of the dialog. Wow.
Will wait for the blu-rays I guess.

My Amazon Instant Video experience was fair. We had about six hiccups on the “high definition” video stream and one drop out in the 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack. The video drop outs lasted about one second of screen time each and only affected portions of the screen. The worst was when the bottom half of the screen was obscured during Don and Megan’s pillow talk on the floor of the apartment. I am not sure what bit rate was, but it looked like a good DVD to me. I am a cord cutter so I can not compare it directly to my old Verizon FIOS feed.

Overall I am pleased with the experience and the $2.84 per episode season pass with no commercial interruptions.